Birds go all-in to get shutdown corner Slay

The Eagles got their shutdown cornerback Thursday, swinging a deal for Darius Slay.

Agreeing to a trade with the Detroit Lions, the Eagles will acquire the 29-year-old Slay for third and fifth-round picks in the 2020 draft, according to sources. Those are the 85th and 166th selections in the draft.

Slay isn’t exactly a young ascending talent, but he’s been to the Pro Bowl in three straight seasons. Ordinary as the Lions have been defensively, he typically shadows the opposition’s top receiver no matter where he lines up.

Slay’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, made it known that Slay agreed to a three-year contract worth $50 million. It would make him the highest-paid corner in the league.

Two picks, a $50 million deal ... that’s how badly the Eagles needed a cornerback to anchor a secondary in serious transition. Slay (6-0, 190) has had multiple interceptions in six straight seasons for the Lions, who took him off the board in the second round of the 2013 draft.

Slay hasn’t come close to the production of his 2017 season, when he peaked with eight picks. Moreover, his snap counts have diminished considerably the last two seasons after he played a career-high 1,064 snaps in 2017.

The Eagles had interest in Byron Jones, who agreed to a five-year $82.5 million deal with the Miami Dolphins.

The money Slay got from the Eagles is for slightly more than that.

The last time the Eagles shelled out those kind of dollars to add a cornerback was in 2011 when Nnamdi Asomugha inked a five-year, $60 million pact.

Asomugha had just turned 30. Like Slay, Asomugha had made the Pro Bowl in three straight seasons for a non-playoff team. He wound up with four interceptions in two seasons with the Eagles. After his release from the Eagles he turned to acting, playing, among other parts, Carl King in the film Crown Heights (2017).

The Eagles now have eight picks to get younger in the secondary. It’s almost a certainty they use multiple picks in the April 23-25 draft on wide receivers, one of the strongest areas in the lottery.

It would surprise no one if the Eagles used some of those picks to trade for one of the top pass catchers in this class, a list that includes Cee Dee Lamb of Oklahoma, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III of Alabama, and Justin Jefferson of LSU. All have size, skill and speed.

Lamb (6-2, 198) clocked a 4.5 in the 40yard dash at the combine. He caught 62 passes for 1,327 yards (21.4 average) and 14 touchdowns in 13 starts.

Jeudy (6-1, 193) ran a 4.45 in the 40. Jeudy hauled in 77 passes for 1,163 yards (15.1) and scored 10 TDs in a variety of ways last season.

Ruggs (5-11, 198) ran a blistering 4.27 and recorded a 42-inch vertical leap at the combine. Last season he caught 40 passes for 746 yards (18.7) and seven TDs and averaged 23.8 yards on kickoff returns.

Jefferson (6-1, 202) clocked a 4.43 and registered a 37.5-inch vertical. Few receivers were more prolific last season as he caught 111 passes for 1,540 yards (13.9) and 18 TDs.

A strong second-day wide receiver who could interest the Eagles is KJ Hamler of Penn State, who also has explosive return skills.

Hamler didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine due to a sore hamstring. He told reporters the Eagles were interested in him and he’d run a 4.27 at his pro day. The pro days were cancelled as a precaution amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Hamler had 56 catches for 904 yards (16.1) and eight TDs last season with the Nittany Lions.

He also averaged 21.4 yards on kickoff returns and 5.5 yards on punt returns.

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